Okay so here’s a quick run-down of how I made 1200 unicorn
horn stickers by hand:
I designed these stickers based on a sticker that I found in
a Berlin metro station. I was peeling it off and noticed how high quality it
was! The backing was a gummy, sticky, tape with a thread lattice. It seemed
weatherproof and it was difficult to remove. I knew that I had to find out what
this tape was.
A couple months passed before I was in Iceland with my
beautiful friend and wonderful filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff. We were discussing
ideas for promotion for her film, which was scheduled to debut at the South by
Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March. We talked briefly about the idea
to make unicorn horn stickers. A few weeks later I was back in Florida
exploring the hardware store for this magical tape. I found it in the flooring
section- it was carpet tape! I bought a few rolls and ran home to make
prototypes.
I began by coating Bristol paper with acrylic spraypaint in
different colors I made fades across the sheets to create variation and
texture.
Next, I applied the double-sided tape to the back of the
sheets.
Back on the front side, I drew as many unicorn horns as
would fit on one sheet using paint markers. I had a bunch of scraps lying
around and it was fun experimenting with different color combos. I drew the
outlines and several diagonals to imply a twisting shape, then went in with
different colors for highlights and lowlights. The horns began to look magical,
even more so when I cut them out individually!
I made 200 in the first batch. I sent half to Leah, and took
half down to Art Basel Miami, where I installed them on the streets of Wynwood.
Leah made use of hers in New York. After the first batch was exhausted, Leah asked
if I would be willing to make more. I jumped at the opportunity. We set a
number, (well, I bumped it up a bit due to excitement), 1200. I went to New
York City and began production of horns en masse. After a week or so, it became
apparent that I was going to need a larger space than I had reserved in the
city in order to complete the project. I returned to Florida where after a
couple weeks of tedious work, 1200 unicorn horns were born.
The second batch was like the first, multicolored and
beautifully thought out. I made 400 of these. I had a stamp made with the
hashtag for the film, #unicornsmovie. I cut out each of the stickers, then
lined them up to apply a paint brush stroke of Naples Yellow gouache across the
base of each. The gouache would be an ideal surface to accept the ink from the
stamp. I let the gouache dry, then came back around and stamped each horn
sticker with the hashtag logo. Beautiful.
This batch will primarily be used as gifts for friends and
contributors to the film.
Where the first 600 stickers were varied in color and
intended for promotional gifts, I thought the latter 600 would be most
effective as street art objects if they were of a uniform color palette, that
way they would read as a cohesive body, distinguishable by their quantity and
uniformity while still retaining the hand-made appeal. In Austin, we can
install the 600 uniform colored horns, mixing in the multicolored horns as fun
outliers.
